11.30.2011

Hope Grows Here

Jerry Camarillo Dunn Jr.

October 16, 2011

Burke at his farm.

To get to Veterans Farm, you head west out of Jacksonville, Fla., on a route that gradually changes from busy beltway to country highway to one-lane blacktop and, finally, to dirt before you reach an open field surrounded by piney woods. For out-of-town visitors, it can seem a long way to travel. But for the man who runs the farm, former U.S. Army Sgt. Adam Burke, 34, the road there has been far longer.

Seven years ago, he was an infantryman in Iraq, at the tail end of a deployment that had felt like a 16-month descent through the circles of hell. “Two weeks before I was due to go home in May 2004, my unit was running a mission in the Sunni Triangle,” Burke says. “As we crossed a street, one of my guys got shot. I stepped out to pull him to cover, and the enemy started firing.”

Shrapnel tore into his head and legs. (Burke was later awarded a Purple Heart for his injuries.) “I was lying in the street,” he recalls. “I prayed, ‘Lord, if you get me home to see my family at least one more time, I promise that I’ll make my life worth saving.’ ”

Recovering in the U.S. with the help of Michele, his wife of nine years, the onetime star athlete had trouble staying on his feet when he walked because of a ruptured eardrum. He was also gripped by intense anxiety. Doctors diagnosed Burke with an alphabet soup of problems, including TBI (traumatic brain injury), PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and hypertension. He and Michele traveled, and he spent “a couple years feeling sorry for myself” before finding his way to his parents’ farm in Webster, Fla.—ironically the very place he’d sought to escape when he joined the army at age 17. His family gave him a two-and-a-half-acre plot, and Burke used his disability benefits to buy blueberry bushes and irrigation equipment. He and Michele moved into a 32-foot trailer.

As Burke spent his days working in the sunshine, he noticed that his hand-eye coordination and his cognitive functions, which had been impaired due to his injuries, steadily improved. After a year and a half, he was able to put aside his cane. One day he was struck by an idea: Since farming had benefited him physically and mentally, perhaps it could help other soldiers, too.

He also thought it could address another problem faced by returning members of the military: unemployment. The jobless rate for the most recent vets is nearly 10 percent. And farming’s challenging lifestyle is actually a good fit for former troops. Burke notes, “It takes a lot of discipline to get up at five in the morning and work hard, but soldiers are used to it.”

He relied on word of mouth to publicize his farm, and within four months, veterans—some of them disabled—began finding their way there. When Burke saw that the men in wheelchairs were unable to pick berries from bushes at ground level, he put plants in tall pots they could reach. “They’re handicapped-access berries!” Burke declares.

By spring 2010, Burke realized he needed more land. With funds from the nonprofit Work Vessels for Veterans, which assists former service members in launching their own businesses, he acquired eight acres in Florida.

Today, on weekends at the new farm, you can find veterans of conflicts ranging from the Korean War to the war in Iraq busy tending the soil. The camaraderie at the farm has been a source of comfort for returning soldiers trying to leave bad memories behind. Shaun Valdivia, a 26-year-old marine, came back from Afghanistan with TBI and PTSD—and a lot of guilt. “Why was I left relatively unscathed while my friends died or got seriously hurt?” he wondered. Valdivia, who felt isolated from civilian friends because of his combat experiences, was relieved to meet other recent vets at Burke’s farm. “It’s helped so much to get things off my chest.”

Under the bright Florida sun, Burke climbs onto a tractor and pulls a plow across a field. Once he risked his life to pull a comrade out of the line of fire. Today, he’s leading some of his fellow soldiers to a different kind of sanctuary.

11.27.2011

I overheard an interesting conversation last night between two couples. They were discussing a mutual friend - specifically, how the mutual friend seems oblivious to her own son's "out of control" behavior.

I often hear someone say to me, or others, "Why doesn't she do something about her kid?" Or, "Don't his parents see how disrespectful he is?" Usually, the comments then lean to something like, "just wait til she's a teenager...they'll wish they had done something sooner."

I have thought about this and here is my list of reasons why a parent may not be responding to a child's defiant behavior

They are not aware of age-appropriate behavior and think they're child is "typical"

Parents are not in agreement on how to intervene, so nothing is attempted

Attempts are made to properly guide this child but one parent may undermine the other

The ill-behavior serves as a stabilizer; a psychological function in the family (see Virginia Satir's model of roles)

Parent(s) may believe that intervening in some fashion changes or "breaks the child's spirit"

Children are bloodhounds. Often times, their acting out behavior is a comment on home instability - but not always

Parents think that the child will outgrow bad behavior or that the issue will resolve itself

Mom or Dad believe that love will prevail; falsely hoping that the constant "love" message will trump the origin of said child's oppositional attitude

A parent may "project" the parenting they received as children, i.e., "My dad was always angry so I will never be firm/angry/stern with my children," or, "Mom was too involved in my world, I will be hands-off with my kids."

Effective parenting involves clear rules and limits, yet, must be flexible - routine but not rigid. Roles should be well-defined, yet, allow for some interchange - not an easy task! Routine is very helpful, but, it's reasonable to encourage change, growth, and adaptability. Parents should not over-parentify a child by sharing adult concerns about money, marital dissatisfaction or job stress. Parents often desire a "friendship:" with their child but this should not translate into equal power or responsibility. Intelligent parents know that they must be more powerful than their child (imagine how fearful a young person would become to think they were the strongest or smartest person in the room!). Yet, an effective parent can also apologize for a mistake ("I wish I had been more patient this morning when you were late getting ready. I shouldn't have yelled. How can we do this differently tomorrow morning?"). Children's opinions and feelings count, their input is meaningful, but they are not the sole barometer for decision making. Do not withhold love as a punishment (the cold shoulder treatment). Consequences are best delivered swiftly and there's no payoff in sweeping threats ("No birthday party for you this year," or, ("Disneyland is off this summer!") Never do for a child what he can do for himself. Adults should not attempt to meet their needs Allow for failure. Failure is important and a touchstone to character, motivation, confidence and humility.

Is it ok to speak with another child's parent? Yes, but only if you are a close personal friend.What can be done? If it's not your family member or not a close friend, not much (sad face here). Was a time when our communities were so small that each adult in the tribe felt it was their obligation to steer another's child in a positive direction. Or, an elder (i.e. Grandparent, religious leader) would intercede with some object lesson. Nowadays, we have few living relatives nearby (hence, less supervision, input, and guidance) and parenting is a solo act. How often do we say, "I wish someone had told me..."

11.26.2011

I enjoy reading Liz Weston in the Sunday L.A. Times. She answers important questions about the economy, finances, and debt management. Here is a recent response.

Dear Liz: I have over $100,000 to invest, any suggestions? A quick and simple answer is fine.

Answer: Your question doesn't have a quick and simple answer. How you should invest the money depends on too many factors, starting with what you plan to do with the money.

If you want it to go toward your retirement and you have 20 years or more until you quit work, then putting some or all of the cash into a diversified mix of stock mutual funds or exchange-traded funds makes sense.

If you plan to use the money for expenses within the next few years, then you should keep it in a federally insured savings account. That's also a good option if you don't know what you want to do with your windfall yet.

A fee-only financial planner can help you figure out your goals and sort through your investment options. You can get referrals from the Garrett Planning Network at http://www.garrettplanningnetwork.com, which represents planners who charge by the hour, or the National Assn. of Personal Financial Advisors at http://www.napfa.org, which represents planners who charge retainer fees or a percentage of assets they manage for you.

Depressed People Often Hide Symptoms from Doctors

September 12, 2011

Getty Images

By Amanda MacMillan

MONDAY, September 12, 2011 (Health.com) — Family doctors and other primary care physicians are often the first health professionals to learn that a patient is depressed, but that doesn’t mean they identify all of the depression cases that walk through their offices.

Far from it: A new survey of California adults has found that 43% of people would keep their depression symptoms to themselves during a doctor’s appointment, because they feel their emotional difficulties are off-topic, they don’t want to be prescribed antidepressants, or they’re afraid a record of the conversation will be seen by employers.

The results aren’t especially surprising, but they do highlight the need to educate patients, doctors, and nurses about the importance of discussing mood problems during checkups and other routine appointments, says study coauthor Richard Kravitz, MD, a professor of internal medicine at the University of California, Davis.

“The primary care sector cares for a majority of patients with mental health conditions in America, and we know that depression is undertreated everywhere,” Dr. Kravitz says. “The number one reason for that is because recognition of depression starts with disclosure from the patient.”

Gerard Sanacora, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, says this study offers more evidence that the stigma surrounding mental illness is still an obstacle that prevents many people from seeking effective, timely treatment.

“I was actually surprised that even more people didn’t feel that it was a burden to talk to their doctor,” says Sanacora, who was not involved in the study. He suspects that if the survey hadn’t been conducted in California—one of the states most accepting of mental illness, he says—the patients would have been even more hesitant to discuss depression.

The National Institute of Mental Health funded the survey and analysis. The results were published today in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Kravitz and his colleagues surveyed 1,054 adults over the phone about their general health, access to doctors and insurance, demographics, and family and personal histories of mental health problems. The researchers then asked the respondents whether 11 potential reasons for not wanting to talk with a doctor about depression applied to them a little, a lot, or not at all. (The reasons were gathered from focus groups in a related study.)

The most common concern, which 23% of respondents said applied a lot to them, was that the doctor would recommend antidepressants. Other popular reasons were that it’s not a primary care physician’s job to deal with emotional issues (16%) and that their medical records could fall into the hands of an employer or another outside party (15%). Respondents also expressed fear about being referred to a specialist or being labeled a “psychiatric patient.”

The people who had the most to gain from talking with their doctor—individuals with moderate to severe depression symptoms at the time of the phone survey—subscribed to the most beliefs that would prevent them from doing so.

11.24.2011

Like many others, I've been healing from the trauma of child sexual abuse my whole adult life. In this journey of piecing myself back together, I was fortunate to have the help of one of the best psychiatrists in the field. I have been blessed with good care and wonderful support from friends, my ex-husband and my current partner.

My work both personally and professionally has been to help others understand the impact of trauma and, more recently, to help people understand Dissociative Identity Disorder. I have stood before thousands of people-law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, social workers, doctors and nurses, lawyers, advocates for battered women, advocates for abused children, and mental health practitioners-and told of my experience.

One of my goals is to give people hope, to let them know that lives shattered by child sexual abuse and incest can be pieced back together. I've sat with groups of other survivors as someone who knows the pain of healing, one who has been through what they're struggling with. I have met with parents and witnessed their pain and helplessness as they tell me about the children they are fostering or adopting.

Over the last couple of years, I have been writing about this experience. When my memoir, The Sum of My Parts: A Survivor's Story of Dissociative Identity Disorder was released, I realized an accomplishment I had never thought possible. Writing the book was both healing and painful. The attention to detail that I gave the writing process opened up new memories, and infused old ones with more painful detail. At times the memories rocked me, but the ultimate integration of parts that came after writing a chapter or a section was amazing.

I knew I still struggled with aspects of DID, but I felt a sense of wholeness like never before. When I had finished writing, I reached a new level of calm and my confidence was steadfast.

As it happens, writing the book and watching it enter the wide world were two very different things. My friends have given me nothing but love and thoughtful reflection into the pain I endured. I am hearing from many who work with other survivors of child sexual assault, and hearing from others who have DID. The outpouring of feedback is wonderful and intimate in a way I didn't expect. It has overwhelmed me in its kindness and compassionate understanding.

Despite how wonderful all this is, suddenly I am an open book. Literally. It sounds silly because what I want is for everyone to read it and understand a little more about DID, child sexual abuse and resilience. As someone who has developed DID as a way of surviving violence, situations can feel threatening to me that seem benign or even good to others. I should not have been surprised that the book's release has left me with an alarming sense of exposure.

Not recognizing this fear for what it was, I've been walling myself off from those closest to me. With this heightened sense of alarm, I instinctively called on old survival techniques to protect myself from all dangers--both real and perceived--and spiraled into a fear of exposure and a lack of trust in those around me. I ended therapy with my psychiatrist and distanced myself from my partner and friends. The pain of the isolation, anger, and panic was so unbearable that one night several months ago, I gave in to the pain of the past and took too many pills. The number of pills could have killed me but for the intervention of my partner.

In the hospital, the shame of what I had tried to do penetrated my shell of protection and distrust. But still stunned and not completely coherent, it took about five days before I really understood the gravity of my actions. I was filled with even more shame. I cried for the fear and pain I put my partner through. Pain she still feels today. What I had never once done in all my years of healing I had just done: I tried to kill myself. What had never been an option in my healing process all of a sudden became a reality.

I will never forget that very painful day. The consequences of taking so many pills were not in my mind when I made the decision. I didn't understand that I could survive the pain, just as I had survived all the agonizing memories and experiences that had come before. It didn't occur to me that by taking pills, I would erode the trust I had in myself as well as the trust my partner had in me. I shook the confidence that close friends and colleagues had in me, the few I would tell.

It never occurred to me when I decided to take those pills that it would be my partner who would find me if I had succeeded. It never occurred to me the despair I would cause her. It never occurred to me that the ambulance and emergency room would be so expensive: a cost our household was not ready for. Who would have paid for my funeral?

The thought of the consequences now helps me counter the fear of knowing that I'm capable of trying and leaves me wanting to never do anything like that ever again.

The past several months have been incredibly difficult and very humbling. With the work I have done around the country, in writing my book and writing this blog, I thought I was past the pain. I thought I could always take the broad view. I became complacent, thinking I'd never do anything to hurt myself. I didn't pay attention to the power of unexpected pain and the memory of the past. As happy as my life is now, there are still painful memories that can take over, triggers that fill me with the pain of the past.

I remind myself now-as the holidays approach, memories surface and emotions run high-that I am far from perfect; I may always struggle. I take preventive measures: I remind myself that no matter how painful a memory may be, I've already survived the experience once. I ride out the pain and embrace it as best I can. I cry. I yell and I hang in there, breaking my day up into the smallest increments I need in order to make it through. I give myself permission to be depressed but not to hurt myself. I remember how painful it was for those who love and care about me when I took those pills. I don't ever want them to experience that again. And I remember the dogs and cats that I love so much. No one would care for them the way I do.

Finally, if I feel like the suicidal feelings are getting so strong that I am developing a plan, I tell someone-my partner, some friends who have agreed to have me call them, or the suicide hotline in my area. Once I can say it out loud, the power of it goes away. The thoughts aren't so compelling. Then I let myself feel the pain.

The Sum of My Parts: A Survivor's Story of Dissociative Identity Disorder was released this month by New Harbinger Publications.

11.22.2011

Anthony Bourdain is the urbane, profane chef, memoirist, and television travel and food personality whose trots around the world are displayed on the Travel Channel's "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" and the new "The Layover." The energizing principle of The Layover is that Bourdain dashes to some location for 1-2 days of mad sampling of the locales, people, and cuisine of places we should all want to see, or may have been but overlooked much of the best that was available there.

According to the Travel Channel, "Viewers get a ringside seat as Tony goes on the hunt for local intel and explores the essential must see places, people and foods in locations throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe." Bourdain is widely traveled, and seems to have personal contacts everywhere (although I bet he meets a lot of them on set where they come for television exposure), and he's willing to try just about anything, and comment wryly on it. In a famous comment on people who view their bodies as temples, Bourdain adopts the simile of an amusement park instead—he'll sample any cuisine anywhere, and leave his body to fend for itself. Here is Wikipedia's description:

Known for consuming exotic ethnic dishes, Bourdain is famous for eating sheep testicles in Morocco, ant eggs in Puebla, Mexico, a raw seal eyeball as part of a traditional Inuit seal hunt, and a whole cobra—beating heart, blood, bile, and meat—in Vietnam. According to Bourdain, the most disgusting thing he has ever eaten is a Chicken McNugget, though he has also declared that the unwashed warthog rectum he ate in Namibia and the fermented shark he ate in Iceland are among "the worst meals of [his] life."

This outgoing, adventuresome aspect of Bourdain's personality is his calling card, and has gotten him to where he is today. He rose through the cooking ranks to become the long-time chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York (where he remains something called "chef-at-large"). Bourdain's breakthrough memoir, "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly," which put him on the literary map, describes the long journey that brought him to this position, one marked by extreme excursions into drugs, strung out over years. After kicking heroin in rehab, for instance, he still worked long hours in New York kitchens interspersed with cocaine and alcohol binges, et al.

Bourdain also portrays himself as having been truly obnoxious, someone who could be overbearing, insulting, completely self-absorbed—someone the current popular narrative would label a typical addict. But I wouldn't call him that. I would call him a highly energized and thoughtful person with a tendency to get off track, but who ultimately righted himself. I know he righted himself, aside from his highly successful books and his eventual rise to the top of New York's cooking circles, because of his television shows—according to the Times, "Mr. Bourdain remains the best of the Americans abroad on TV: the professional voyagers," of whom there are now tons. Oh, and his second marriage (one less than Newt Gingrich), which provided him with a daughter, appears to be very solid.

What makes Bourdain successful at this job is his intelligence and honesty; as described by Mike Hale in the Times, "Mr. Bourdain’s singular success in the role indicates just how much quick intelligence and hard work it takes to make that character viable and keep it from descending into self-parody (which has happened surprisingly seldom on No Reservations)."

And how are Bourdain's addictions going? For some time, he continued to smoke cigarettes—but there was no evidence that he is still smoking on his first show in "The Layover," in Singapore. I assume he long ago left drugs behind—at one point, viewing (I don't think he visited it) a nighttime Singaporean zoo, he suggests it would be good to see on drugs, and then almost seemed to approve of Singapore's policy—illicit drug users and dealers are executed—to keep illegal drugs at bay. That comment was unlike Bourdain, who at another point in the show reads from Singapore's strict guide on personal behavior, sexual especially, after driving through the red-light district in town.

What's that leave? Drinking. Bourdain still drinks, and sometimes confesses to drinking too much. But that is rare. He is usually shown casually drinking a beer or wine with dinner. In Singapore, he visits the nightlife district, famous for its cocktails, but declined to sample any. Viewers would find this completely understandable—even if they liked cocktails—while watching the sleep-deprived, groggy Bourdain rush from point to point in this tiny city-nation. Doing "The Layover" would just be impossible with heavy drinking. On the other hand, I watched at one point an episode on "No Reservations" on a tropical island where Bourdain devoted the better part of an afternoon to laying on a hammock drinking beer—which seemed likewise somehow appropriate.

Bourdain, in other words, is not a 12-step, abstinence automaton-nut. He has a good life, and he knows how to keep it. Smart, thoughtful people often arrive at such a point, even after some serious detours.

Which brings me to Bourdain's eating. Bourdain—who was born in 1956—looks to be in good shape. Not razor thin, but a well-preserved middle-aged man. On "No Reservations," Bourdain travels around having normally-spaced meals in exotic locales, eating things in many cases I have only heard and read about. The same is quadruply true for Singapore, which combines a plethora of Asian and Western cuisines in a remarkably compact space, often served in street-side stands and large malls. And I would say that Bourdain samples them all—but what he does isn't sampling (other than the fish eyes, of which he only has one in Singapore). He seems to have a half-dozen or more full meals in a 36-hour period!

I marvel at this performance—sort of like an old drinker who watches a younger person consume alcohol he or she can no longer tolerate. I would never—as a 65-year-old man—eat all that food, even if I could. It seems such a wretched excess that I would regret for months. I found myself wondering whether Bourdain had some sort of magical metabolism, or whether he spends his time back in New York working out twice daily—or both. On the other hand, I believe that, in some way as yet poorly understood, Bourdain's adventurous attitude towards food contributes to his remaining relatively thin.

In a saner world, people would comment on this aspect of Bourdain's performance—since America is a country overcome with obesity which watches people stuffing themselves on television. That is actually the theme of one of the innumerable food-travel shows—"Man Against Food"—in which "Foodie Adam Richman sets out on mission to sample the country's best ... as he engorges himself ... , you get to see stuff fall out of his mouth; the saliva, the mucus. . . . " You get the idea!

Take Action for GERD Awareness

The 13th Annual GERD Awareness Week is November 20-26, 2011. During that time (and at any time), we encourage people experiencing symptoms, which may be GERD-related, to call the IFFGD Helpline toll-free at 1-888-964-2001 to receive information and support regarding GERD.

Every November, IFFGD expands efforts to support GERD Awareness Week through public service and media outreach. More information is available on our websites and in our Learning Center about:

Did you know – heartburn is not the only symptom of GERD

Chronic heartburn is the most common symptom of GERD. Acid regurgitation (refluxed material into the mouth) is another common symptom. But numerous less common symptoms other than heartburn may be associated with GERD. Find out more. Go »

Learn more about GERD

To learn more about GERD, contact IFFGD and ask about our GERD Brochure. This informative publication reviews symptoms, causes, potential complications, and what can be done to treat GERD. To receive a copy of the GERD Brochure, contact IFFGD toll free at 888-964-2001, or email your request along with your postal address to mailto:iffgd@iffgd.org?subject=GERD.

IFFGD first designated GERD Awareness Week in November 1999, and every subsequent year we work to focus attention on important health messages about GERD diagnosis and treatment. GERD Awareness Week is listed on the U.S. National Health Observances calendar. The U.S. National Health Information Center (NHIC) Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion describes health observances as days, weeks, or months devoted to promoting particular health concerns. Health professionals, teachers, community groups, and others can use these special times to sponsor health promotion events and stimulate awareness of health issues.

11.17.2011

I have been working with male sexual abuse survivors for 30 years. The sexual abuse that occurred at Penn State appears to have been systemic and chronic. In other words, it was not a singular event and since there was much collusion against the victim(s), we view it as systemic. When I first read the news the morning it broke 10 days ago, I read the tea leaves and knew exactly where this story was going.Male sexual abuse is taboo…maybe the very thin silver lining here is that we can bring male sexual abuse to the table. It’s hard for a normal thinking person to wrap their mind around sexual behavior with a prepubescent child. It’s about Power and Control…it is not about sexual pleasure or intimacy, again, the way a normal person thinks of those wonderful things. Only deviants and sociopaths enjoy power, control, and dominance. And, like all perpetrators, Sandusky followed suit by selecting At-Risk youth, in other words, kids that have most likely already been abused; maybe they came from a single home with weak supervision, poor families, even foster children. Again, oldest trick in the book. Picking on a child who is powerless, who won't be believed, a child without resources or any inherent protection that all children rightfully deserves. Sandusky garnered respect and admiration for his “charity” work while creating that thing that all predators love, free access without any questions or accountability. How can society at large benefit from Penn State’s deliberate and cruel negligence? remember, we are not talking about molest...molest suggests touching and exposing. We are talking about a much rarer occurrence in the child and sexual abuse arena. We are talking about rape, violent and painful. Only a hit in the pocketbook will send a message to endowments, admin, and the Board of Directors. How about banning Penn State from the NCAA for one year? Nah, that would punish other young men and women that have honestly worked hard to be get there, for things that were simply not their fault. Million dollar civil suits will follow soon. So be it. Maybe Penn State will be pressured to provide PSA’s about signs and symptoms of sexual abuse...who to call, red flags and how to get help. I've long wanted a famous face to this cause. Can you imagine a Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, or Muhammed Ali on your tv talking about sexual abuse? Other tough men have come forwarded about their sexual abuse in recent years (Carlos Santana, Henry Rollins, Don Lemon, Tyler Perry, Axl Rose, Robert Blake). Certainly, punishment to Penn State, to its core, is necessary. It will not make the victims feel any better, by the way.

(Search for my prior post on Male Sexual Abuse Survivors)

11.16.2011

Help with the mental part of addiction

There are a wide range of counseling services, self-help materials, and medicines available today, so smokers have more tools than ever to help them quit smoking for good. Some people are able to quit on their own, without the help of others or the use of medicines. But for many smokers, it can be hard to break the social and emotional ties to smoking while getting over nicotine withdrawal symptoms at the same time. Fortunately, there are many sources of support out there.

Telephone-based help to stop smokingAs of 2009, all 50 states and the District of Columbia run some type of free telephone-based program that links callers with trained counselors. These specialists help plan a quit method that fits each person's unique smoking pattern. People who use telephone counseling are twice as likely to stop smoking as those who don't get this type of help. Help from a counselor can keep quitters from making many common mistakes.Telephone counseling is also easier to use than some other support programs. It doesn't require driving, transportation, or child care, and it's available nights and weekends.Counselors may suggest a combination of methods including medicines, local classes, self-help brochures, and/or a network of family and friends. Call us to get help finding a phone counseling program in your area.

Immediate rewards of quitting

Kicking the tobacco habit offers some benefits that you'll notice right away and some that

will develop over time. These rewards can improve most peoples' day-to-day lives a great

deal:

· Breath smells better

· Stained teeth get whiter

· Bad smelling clothes and hair go away

· Yellow fingers and fingernails disappear

· Food tastes better

· Sense of smell returns to normal

· Everyday activities no longer leave them out of breath (such as climbing stairs or

11.15.2011

(I love this place!)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Lux Art Institute
FREE for members; $5 non-members
21 & Over onlySponsored by The County of San Diego at the recommendation of Supervisor Pam Slater-Price.
Special thanks to Stone Brewing Co. and Bear Flag Wine.

Enjoy live music and refreshments, meet resident artist Emilio Perez and view his work-in-progress in the Lux studio.

At Lux@Night this Wednesday, meet resident artist Emilio Perez, view his exhibit of textured canvases created through a unique process of painting, carving and peeling, and see the large-scale triptych he's working on in the Lux studio.

Listen to The Heavy Guilt performing live, satisfy your craving for a juicy burger at the Bitchin Burgers foodtruck on site that evening, and if you're thinking ahead about holiday shopping, check out the Lux store for one-of-a-kind items by San Diego artists!

Lux After HoursThursday, Dec. 8, 7-8pmA new event for Lighthaus, Lux's new social group for its Young Members ages 21-39, featuring a special tour with Emilio Perez and post-gathering at Flavor Del Mar. Details to come!

11.12.2011

Rules on spanking vary by state. In California, a mark must not be left on a child's body and an object may not be used to inflict the spanking (i.e. spoon, paddle, belt, switch, brush).

Also, a teacher, coach, or neighbor does not have the legal right to spank or strike your child (this is assault).

Interestingly, the word "spank" has a very different connotation in other countries - it is a sexual reference. The similar word in England for the American spank is "smack."While each family has the legal right to physical discipline, aka corporal punishment, within the laws of their state, it is worth evaluating your position on the value of physical punishment, which raises another good question: is physical punishment "discipline?" Discipline is teaching, guiding, shaping - as in disciples. Punishment is all together another subject.

While many wonderfully effective parents choose to spank - and often see it as a last resort to teach their child a grave lesson - it's not recommended that pre-verbal children be struck. In other words, if your child cannot speak, striking him is futile, and much more likely to have the reverse effect. And, there are more effective ways to consequence your young child.A good clinician is able to offer several other alternatives to spanking for this age group (distraction, eye to eye discussion, speaking low and slow to your toddler, sitting quietly with them in a non-verbal two or three minute time-out.) Please know that most "time-outs" are not done correctly. Here is an excellent little book that illustrates the ideal model for utilizing time-outs. Yelling or screaming never works with kids; yes, it gets their attention, scares them; but it is not a long-term parenting strategy that holds water. This is a terrific book that outlines healthy and effective ways to discipline your beautiful child in a positive and non-spanking fashion. Kids, Parents, Power Struggles.Please take note: Not spanking does not a permissive parent make :) In other words, limit-setting, rules, expectations, consequences, and discipline are a necessary and healthy task of responsible parenting.

11.11.2011

The lost Leonardo

London's National Gallery will exhibit 'Salvator Mundi' in a show of Leonardo da Vinci. The painting has attributes suggesting it's of the period, and experts have weighed in positively.

(Tim Nighswander / National Gallery)

By Noah Charney

November 6, 2011

On Nov. 9, London's National Gallery will open a highly anticipated exhibition, "Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan." While Leonardo shows are reliable blockbusters, this one will have a particular appeal because it will feature what many believe to be a "lost" Leonardo painting.

"Salvator Mundi" (Savior of the World) shows a distinctly spooky half-length image of Christ against an amorphous dark background. His features are slightly ghosted, an effect called sfumato that Leonardo brought to the fore, in which a dry brush is swept over nearly dry paint in order to gently blur lines and meld colors. Christ has ginger-tinged ringlets, a cleft chin, bee-stung lips and slightly protruding dark eyes, lightly red and moist, as if he has just been crying. His garment, of loose blue cloth with delicate strips of decorative embroidery, and a gemstone over his sternum are handled in a more precise manner. With his raised right hand he gestures in benediction, while his left hand cups a transparent orb, symbolizing the world.

But is it by Leonardo?

In art history, "lost" is a term applied to works that have been destroyed, stolen or misattributed. Occasionally, a lost work surfaces seemingly from nowhere. More often, works are lost in plain sight. In 1993, Caravaggio's "Taking of Christ" was discovered hanging in a dark corner of a Jesuit seminary in Dublin, grimy with age and long thought a copy rather than the original it proved to be.

Only a few scholars have had access to "Salvator Mundi" so far, but it looks good from photographs. The quality of the work is clear, and stylistically, it could be a lost Leonardo. But Leonardo was so famous during his lifetime that flocks of artists, from his own circle and elsewhere, sought to imitate his style. (An excellent 16th century copy of the "Mona Lisa" was boxed up and shipped around southern France during World War II, leading the Nazis on a wild goose chase. They finally seized their prize, unaware that the real thing, hidden by Louvre staff, never left Paris.)

Five decades ago, "Salvator Mundi" was just another more or less excellent "school of" artwork. It sold for the equivalent of about $125 in 1958. If the new attribution holds up, however, its worth might be as high as $200 million, a record. What did the art world see in 2011 that it missed in 1958? How does one go about establishing authenticity?

The first step is almost inevitably connoisseurship, the exceptional expertise of scholars who spend their lives studying the work of a master and have an almost innate sense for whether a work looks right or wrong. As Martin Kemp, the world's leading Leonardo expert, told the Daily Telegraph after seeing "Salvator Mundi," "Once you walked into the room, it had the uncanny presence that Leonardos have."

Kemp is one of a handful of international scholars, including the director of the restoration of Leonardo's "Last Supper," Pietro Marani, who have inspected the oil-on-wood painting since it was purchased in 2005. The buyers, an American consortium, apparently gambled that under centuries of grime and botched restoration efforts lay a masterpiece. "It was in a bad state, covered by old layers of paint," Marani told the Telegraph. "During the restoration, the quality of the painting emerged."

Such testimony alone, however, won't authenticate art in the 21st century — and connoisseurs themselves aren't likely to weigh in without backup from objective evidence.

Provenance — the documented history of an object — is one of the best ways to determine that a work is what it purports to be.

In the case of "Salvator Mundi," estimated to have been painted around 1500, the ownership history can be dated back to Britain's King Charles I; the painting is mentioned as being in his collection in 1649. In 1763 it was bought at auction by the son of the Duke of Buckingham. The painting's history is unknown between 1763 and 1900. It was acquired by British art collector Frederick Cook in 1900. It was Cook's descendant who sold it at auction in 1958 for only £45 (about $125 at the then-exchange rate); at the time it was considered to be by a pupil of Leonardo's, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio. A representative of the current owners says it was part of an American collection through the 20th century.

The problem with provenance is that it relies on a chain of historical documents that rarely survives the centuries. Could you locate the receipt from the last mattress you bought? And with legitimate, known-quantity works sometimes having no provenance to speak of, the system is still a porous one. In the case of the Leonardo, the provenance primarily shows that the work had a long ownership history, and therefore cannot be a modern fake, and that it had been attributed to Leonardo in past centuries.

The newest approach to authentication is scientific analysis. Developed largely as a response to early 20th century Van Gogh forgeries, forensic investigations can examine the age of organic materials such as wood or canvas and the chemical composition of paints, and the results can be compared with undisputed Leonardos. With infrared,

ultraviolet and X-ray technology in an ever-growing scientific arsenal, science can rarely prove a specific attribution, but it can eliminate the possibility that the work was faked. Because the examination of "Salvator Mundi" showed that the pigments look right for Leonardo and that the wood it's painted on dates to the correct era, it could be by Leonardo, but that does not necessarily mean that it is by Leonardo.

Many art forgers come from a background in conservation and therefore know the tests their forgeries will need to overcome. There are examples of faked ancient Chinese pottery that forgers injected with a radioactive isotope so that carbon dating would be fooled.

Which brings us back to where we started: Is "Salvator Mundi" by Leonardo? The decision by the august National Gallery to display the painting in its Leonardo show is something of a seal of approval. But even the museum has hedged its bet, telling the media: "This will obviously be the moment to test this important new attribution by direct comparison with works universally accepted as Leonardo's."

In the end, the treasure hunt requires that all the evidence line up: the scientific, the historical and the visceral reactions of connoisseurs. One more challenge will follow: the test of time.

Noah Charney is a founder and president of the Italian-based Assn. for Research into Crimes Against Art. He writes The Secret History of Art for ARTINFO.com. His latest book is "The Thefts of the Mona Lisa: On Stealing the World's Most Famous Painting."